Seeing Ernst and Hanschen Down By The Vineyard
by live2tivo
Summary: Georg and Otto are in for quite a surprise as they walk home from school one Friday. Hernst and Georg/Otto. Please Review.


**Title:** Seeing Ernst and Hanschen Down By The Vineyard  
**Author:** Tally/Live2TiVo/MusicalJunkie  
**Rating:** K/T  
**Pairing:** Slight Georg/Otto; slight Hanschen/Ernst; mentions Melchior/Wendla  
**Summary:** Georg and Otto are in for quite a surprise when they walk home from school one Friday  
**Author's Notes: **This was written for a Secret Santa exchange over on LiveJournal

* * *

It was going to be a good weekend. Georg's piano lesson had been canceled for that afternoon, and, while he was going to miss a chance to gaze at Fraulein Grossebustenhalter, it would give him a few more days to practice the piece he was supposed to perform (which he hadn't actually learned yet.) Even better was the fact that Otto's parents were away on holiday, because it was the only time Herr Lammermeier could get time off work, and the Zirschnitzs had offered to let Otto stay with them while they were gone. Of course, the best and most miraculous part of the weekend was that they had finished with Vergil in school and would not be starting Ovid's _Metamorphoses _until Herr Sonnenstich could locate the texts. (Herr Sonnenstich had only been able to find three books since they'd been lost to a protest of dactylic hexameter by the previous year's students.)

Still, it was pure chance that Georg and Otto decided to take the long way home that Friday. That's not to say there weren't any factors that influenced their decision to take the road less traveled. As they had no obligations to attend, the two boys were in no rush to arrive back at Georg's house. It was a beautiful day, as well; the sky showed no signs of inclement weather, and the temperature was at that perfect medium where no jacket was needed and a long sleeved shirt wasn't stuffy. It was the perfect afternoon for a long walk and a discussion of every imaginable topic from women to midterms.

Otto and Georg were the last ones to leave school. Herr Sonnenstich had tried to coerce them into helping him find hidden Latin books, and it had taken them nearly ten minutes to convince him that Georg's mother was ill and expecting them home as soon as possible. By the time they escaped the schoolhouse, their classmates were long gone. Melchior had gone off to meet that Wendla Bergmann, Moritz was hurrying home to study for his midterms, and Ernst and Hanschen were off somewhere doing whatever it was exactly that Ernst and Hanschen did together.

As they approached the vineyard, Otto began to tell Georg what he had overheard the older boys saying at church the previous Sunday.

"…then the blonde one said it was like holding a wet sock filled with strawberry j—" He trailed off as the sound of someone moaning interrupted his story.

"Who do you suppose that is?" Georg pondered aloud.

"Probably one of the upper grade boys with some girl from town. I'm sure we'll be hearing all about it outside of church on Sunday."

"Which means Father Kaulbach will be even more long winded on the topics of sin and asking God's forgiveness for our perverse actions."

"Something to look forward to then, eh, Georg?"

"Yes, Otto, I just live for Kaulbach's sermons on how the devil is constantly trying to corrupt us."

"As if the devil would bother with corrupting us."

"Ah, but he is. Why else would I have ended up with Fraulein Grossebustenhalter and her lovely, ehm, apples teaching me where to put my fingers on the piano keys? Because, trust me, the piano is the last place I want my fingers when she's around… leaning over me… placing her hands over mine… breathing on my neck… sitting next to me on the…" He stopped as, once again, a moan intruded on their conversation. "For the love of God, is there no other place than outside in broad daylight for them to carry on their little escapades? What would happen if Father Kaulbach or one of the other members of the clergy were to walk by?"

"What do you say we give them a scare? Sort of a warning that the vineyard is probably not the best location for their little rendezvous."

Georg considered his friend's scheme for a moment. He was sure the not-so-hidden couple's reactions would be priceless, but he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to see exactly what was causing those moans. "I don't know, Otto. What if they're… you know..."

"Oh, come on. If they are, at least it will give you something other than your piano teacher to think about at night."

"Funny, Otto. At least Fraulein Grossebustenhalter isn't my _mother_."

"Nice, Georg. Very nice." Otto gave his friend a 'look.' "So, are you in or not?"

"Why not? It's not like we have anything better to do."

Georg and Otto moved towards where they thought the noises had originated, expecting to find one of the upper grade boys with a girl he'd most likely paid to touch. What they weren't expecting was Ernst pinned down by Hanschen, moaning with pleasure as the other boy kissed him and began to remove his trousers.

Forgetting all plans to interrupt the lovers, Georg and Otto rushed back to the main road, still trying to process what they had just seen.

"Was that really…?" Georg muttered, unable to process the image of his classmates.

"I think it was." Otto took a moment to think it over. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised. I mean, it's always been pretty obvious that Ernst was, well… and Hanschen does tend to look around in the showers after gym."

"I'd prefer not to think about that at the moment. I'm trying to erase the whole incident from my memory."

They walked the rest of the way to Georg's house in silence, both trying to forget what they had seen, but failing miserably.

That night, as they changed into their nightclothes, their sleeping arrangements began to dawn on them. Normally, sharing a bed wouldn't have been an issue—they'd been friends for years, and had slept in closer quarters than Georg's king-sized bed before—but after what they'd witnessed in the vineyard, being so close to each other suddenly had a whole new meaning. They stood on opposite sides of the bed, neither wanting to be the first to climb under the covers.

After about thirty seconds passed without either of them making a move to get in bed, Georg couldn't stand it. "This is stupid. We're not Ernst and Hanschen. We've done this a million times, and what we saw this afternoon isn't going to change anything."

Georg climbed into bed, and Otto followed suit. "You're right. And, thank God you said something. I was afraid we were going to have to sleep standing up!"

"Let's just get some sleep and never talk about this afternoon again."

"Good idea."

They turned off the lights and didn't say another word… for the next two minutes, at least.

"Georg?"

"Yeah, Otto?"

"Since we're already talking about it, I don't see why we can't just discuss it now, and get it over with. That way we'll have no reason to ever talk about it again."

"So, we talk it out now, so we don't have to do it later?"

"Right."

"Sounds good to me."

Otto paused, "So… yeah."

"Maybe they we're doing what we thought they were doing." Georg blurted out. "I mean, we know what they were doing, but maybe it wasn't because they're… Think about it. None of the girls would go near Hanschen unless he paid them, and even then, there's no guarantee they'd do it. And, Ernst—well, Ernst would never have the guts to say no to Hanschen. Maybe Hanschen was just taking advantage of what was available to him."

"Ernst?"

"Exactly."

"Or they could just prefer that instead of doing stuff with girls." Otto said, rather offhandedly.

"I can't imagine what it would be like with a boy. I can hardly imagine it with a girl!" Of course, as he said this, Georg was in fact, imagining what it would be like with a boy, and he wasn't having all that much trouble picturing it. Neither did Otto.

Georg's statement seemed to mark the end of the conversation, leaving the boys alone with their thoughts. It was going to be a very long night.


End file.
